January 2011- 4

Perfectly Secret edited by Susan Musgrave was a bit disappointing. The overall idea, secrets of teens, was a good concept to start with but I just didn't feel like the book delivered. Easy teen read so no regrets on finally reading this quick read, it just feel short for me though.

Oregon is recently holding a special place for me so when I heard about this book about teen runaways from Oregon I was especially interested. Live Through This by Debra Gwartney tells the story of Gwartney's teen daughters when they were runaways years ago. Her story shares her years long horrific battle to try to save the lives of her two girls. The book was well written and I liked that it came from the mother's perspective and didn't focus on the the girl's experience as much, as that is their story not hers. I was disheartened by some of the Oregon state laws that allowed Gwartney to have to fight harder. I also liked that the true story had a happy ending, though some parts were a bit graphic (you'll see what I mean if you read it). Sometimes with non fiction you don't get to see what happened after and since Gwartney wrote this much after the fact the reader gets the conclusion they need.

Anyone who knows me for a minute knows I love elephants, or as I call them dramblys (Lithuanian for elephant). I don't remember where I saw Elephant Reflections by Karl Ammann and Dale Peterson, but as soon as I did I knew I wanted to read it. What beautiful amazing pictures and history on elephants. My favorite sections were perspectives, passages, and portraits.

I am a huge Sex and the City fan, which has allowed for all of author Candace Bushnell's books to make my to read list. I've tried several times to read Sex and the City the book but haven't been able to get through the first few pages. It's odd cause I like the rest of her books but I guess maybe because I'm searching for Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha, Miranda, and Mr Big I just can't get through those first few pages. I listened to One Fifth Avenue recently and enjoyed it enough that I may make another attempt at SATC book. One Fifth is set in NYC, of course. It tells the story of a historical apartment building and it's upper middle class to unbelievably rich owners. It's not a serious read but it had some interesting twists and turns and some good old fashioned NY romance of course.

Well thats the end of January's reads. I wish I had a few more to report, 4 doesn't seem all that big a number but I did start back up with school and have a busy month. February's a shorter month but I have a week's vacation and a box full of books to keep me busy :)

66

So the year is over, final count was 66 books in 2010. I wish I had gotten even a little closer to the goal but in some ways its even better that I didn't accomplish it. In 2010 I learned to fail, I learned to not be perfect, I learned to try as hard as you can and accept whatever that brings. I learned that's the best I can do and it is enough.

I am glad I had the chance to renew my love for reading. Realistically I think I knew from the beginning I wouldn't get to 100. With my schedule that was an impossible goal to set. It may have seemed possible at the beginning but a few short months in something more important to work on came up. I can't say I regret putting the books to the side for awhile, getting myself back is more important. In any case though I will continue to read whenever I can. I will continue to add books to my never ending "to read" list. When I move far far away this summer, I will be sure I know where the nearest library is to my new home.

Not sure if I'll keep blogging about the 2011 reads, but I just may. More realistically this year the new goal will be to read more than 66 books.

Thanks for listening.

-L

Classical Humanities

I honestly can't remember what landed The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman on my to read list. It is a story about classical mythology and art. It is also a murder mystery/suspense. None of these are typical to what I like to read. I have to imagine the additional link to mental health is what must have gotten my interest. In any case though the story grabbed my attention almost immediately and was a very interesting last read of the year. The somewhat surprising ending and it's focus to mental health did not disappoint me in the least.

63-65

Books 63-65 will not be blogged about. Subject matter is a little too personal and I'm not up for sharing. One of them was on my list for a long long long time and I'm glad I finally had the courage to read it. That being said all three were tough to read but every day this past year I worked on doing the impossible.

Invisible

The Visibles by Sara Shepard is one of those books that I picked up because of the cover. The concept seemed interesting to me as well after reading the jacket so it got added to the list. Mental illness, DNA, abandonment, and family relationships are the common themes. Other than that the book is far from common. It was hard to get it started because there was no flow but then it grabbed my interest and I really wanted to know what happened next. A lot of the questions never got answered and I usually don't like that but for some reason it worked for this book. It also takes place part in New York and the time frames jump around from decade to decade. I knew at some point it would end up at 9/11 and I really like how the author could have spent so much time on that one segment of time but chose (I think) not to. It plays a significant role for the characters but isn't focused on or made a major part of the book. Overall I'm glad I stuck with the book but I can't imagine it being many peoples cup of tea with all the twists and turns and unanswered segments.

DID

All I can say is wow after finishing Ellen Hopkins book Identical. When I worked at the library I would always see Hopkins' books in the teen section and wonder what the deal was with them. They are big books for teen reads. I think if I was a teen I would have read them all. Instead I chose to add this one to my list and I really enjoyed it. It was hard to get used to the style, it is written entirely like poetry. But I stuck with it and one insomniac night finished the book. I don't want to give too much away but if you are as interested in the mental health field as I am this book has lots of psychological twists and turns. Overall if you can stick with the style it's a pretty easy read and a very interesting concept. No idea how Hopkins even thought of this but again, wow.

Booky 2

Still no real idea why I love Russell Brand so much but shortly after I finished My Booky Wook his second book came out, Booky Wook 2. I liked this one better in some ways and not as much in others. First it sort of seemed like the first was a success so he rushed or they rushed him to make a second. I liked the context more but the style change didn't really sit well with me. I still find him to be extremely genuine as a person and hope that he isn't just fooling everyone.